Jacky Cheung
Jacky Cheung Hok-yau (born July 10, 1961) is a Hong Kong actor and a popular Cantopop singer. He is dubbed one of the "Cantopop Four Heavenly Kings" of Hong Kong. Career Early years Cheung was born and grew up in Quarry Bay in the eastern part of Hong Kong Island. His father is from Tianjin and his mother is from Shanghai. In 2007, Jacky revealed that the paternal side of his family are mostly seamen, including his father, paternal cousin, and older brother. His first language is Cantonese, but he also speaks Mandarin and English fluently. He sings Cantonese, Mandarin and modern English pop songs. Cheung is known for his baritone voice. Music Cheung originally started working as a reservation officer for the airline Cathay Pacific. His music career started when he won the Amateur 18-Hong Kong district singing contest in 1984 with the song 大地恩情 by Michael Kwan. He bested more than 10,000 other contestants. After winning the contest, he was signed by the then Polygram Records, now Universal Music Group. Although encouraged by a bright start, he was not able to achieve immediate supremacy in Cantopop, then dominated by Leslie Cheung, Alan Tam, Anita Mui and Danny Chan. In 1985 he won his first two major awards together with the 1985 RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards and the 1985 Jade Solid Gold Top 10 Awards. In 1991, he released the song 每天愛你多一些, a translated version of the Japanese Southern All Stars hit, 真夏の果実. The album 真情流露 in 1992, as well as the subsequent release, 愛火花 in 1992, achieved audited sales of over 400,000 copies in Hong Kong alone. His subsequent albums included 1993 我與你 and 1994 餓狼傳說. In the 1994 Billboard Music Awards in the US, he was named the most popular singer in Asia. He received numerous music awards both in Hong Kong and elsewhere, including the best-selling Chinese singer in the World Music Awards for two consecutive years in 1995 and 1996 held at Monaco. Cheung was also elected as one of the world's Top Ten Outstanding Young Persons in 1999. Amongst his hit songs, some of his most famous were Amour, 只想一生跟你走 and 吻别. Due to these great songs and albums, Cheung is generally considered to be the pre-eminent member of the Four Heavenly Kings of Cantopop. He is regarded by some sources as the best singer of the four. Albums #Smile (April 18, 1985) #遙遠的她Amour (Distant From Her Amour) (January 5, 1986) #相愛 (Love Each Other) (October 23, 1986) #Jacky (July 1987) #昨夜夢魂中 (Last Night in the Dream) (March 15, 1988) #給我親愛的 (Give Me My Dear) (April 13, 1989) #只願一生愛一人 (Only a Lifetime of Love for One Person) (December 15, 1989) #夢中的你 (Dreaming of You) (July 23, 1990) #情不禁 (Obsession) (January 23, 1991) #一顆不變心 (A Constant Heart) (August 28, 1991) #真情流露 (True Feelings) (May 13, 1992) #愛火花 (Love Sparks) (November 27, 1992) #我與你 (Me and You) (July 24, 1993) #餓狼傳說 (Legend of the Wolf) (May 20, 1994) #這個冬天不太冷 (This Winter is Not Too Cold) (December 20, 1994) Category:Actors Category:Singers Category:July births Category:1961 births